This Friday I contemplated going to Assisi, but instead decided I wanted to spend the day in Florence. After wandering around in the market a little bit,

From Drop Box

I decided to go to the Borgello Museum. On the way, though, i came across a guy reciting Dante's Inferno in a small square outside what used to be Dante's house.



The Borgello Museum has some famous works, including Donatello's Davids, but not very many other well known pieces. Still, it was interesting. Unfortunately, you can't take photos inside.

From there I went to the Palazzo Pitti, or Pitti Palace. If you know anything about Florence's crazy history, this is where the Medici family lived for awhile. This was one of the places we tried to go to last time we were here, but got there too late in the day, so we could only snap photos of its massive exterior and peek in at the garden. It was pretty cool to see because it's a palace turned into a museum, so it's HUGE and FILLED with paintings. It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest. They did have a costume gallery that was really neat, but the highlight was.... their special Caravaggio exhibit!! Caravaggio is one of my FAVORITE painters, and last time we were in Rome my mom and I took a Caravaggio tour around the city. Well, right now in Florence there is a special Caravaggio/ Caravaggiste (painters in the style of Caravaggio) exhibit split between the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi. It was amazing! Again, I unfortunately couldn't take any pictures inside the palace, but i did get a shot of the palace garden, the Boboli Gardens, from the window.



I intended to go there after my palace tour, but was way too exhausted!

Saturday I was a bit more adventurous and took a day trip to Sienna! According to my guide book, if you're in Florence and going to take one day trip outside the city, go to Sienna. And now I know why.

I bought a combo ticket package that got me into 6 different places for only 5 euro!!! (gotta love student discounts). I started in the city center with the largest secular tower in italy.



Then I found the Duomo of Sienna.


The inside is pretty sizable, and there's a few chapels inside, including one dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The floor was decorated with mosaics and on one of the walls was a statue designed by Michelangelo'


Mosaic with Romulus and Remus nursing from the wolf. This is all over Rome because Romulus mythically founded Rome, but it's also all over Sienna because allegedly Remus's son Sieno founded Sienna.

Michelangelo's Moses statue

The dome!



After the Duomo, i used my combo ticket at the Duomo Museum, where you can climb to the top and look out over the city. It was incredible! I am in love with Tuscany now.





The city was a jumble of terracotta roofs, and the horizon was lined with mountains, purple from the atmosphere. And in between were the most beautiful rolling green hills. I stayed up there for probably 45 minutes, and i only came down then because i was getting hungry.

I finished up my day with the Crypt under the Duomo (which had historic frescoes and relics that had been inserted more recently to make it more of an attraction) and the Baptistry before I made one last stop....



This is the church where St. Catherine of Sienna had her visions. Again, i couldn't take pictures, but her head is inside as a reliquary! (weird, right?)

Sunday my roommates and I had planned a nice, American, Sunday breakfast at a cafe not too far from our apartment that advertises breakfast. We were so excited! In Italy breakfast isn't really a big thing. We don't have a toaster (so no toast), and the only cereals we can find are cornflakes or granola--both of which i like, but still, i was ready for this feast we had planned. Unfortunately, as we were walking we began to realize that NOTHING was open--including our cafe! I think we're all getting a little homesick, even though we are still having plenty of good times here.

Monday I actually had an assignment to watch the Italian soccer game in a place with Italians! My friend Derick just finished a study abroad at Oxford and is backpacking around Europe now, and on Monday he stopped in Florence, so Derick, Laura, and I went to watch the game on a giant screen set up near the Arno river. It was overwhelming! There were SO many people there! But despite the massive crowd, people were sitting neatly in rows on the ground, shouting in unison at the players (or the TV when it momentarily cut out... that was scary). It was chaotic, but considering the number of people and the lack of any sort of authority or crowd control, it was not nearly as rumoroso as it should have been. Italy tied, so people were a bit disappointed, but mostly they've been saying "i don't want to talk about it." I'm just glad they didn't lose, because i don't think i want to be around for that.

Sorry my posts are so lengthy and include so many days! It's hard for me to get online regularly since I don't have internet at my apartment. However, I went back to that cafe today and had a bagel, and am making use of their free wifi, something that's not easy to find in Italy. I like this place. I think I'll be back more often...